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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The COMCEC Strategy, adopted during the 4 th Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al-
Mukarramah on 14-15 August 2012, envisages Working Group Meetings as one of the main
instruments for its implementation. Through the Working Groups, country experts get the
chance of elaborating the issues thoroughly in the respective cooperation areas and sharing
their good practices and experience. The Working Groups are established for each cooperation
area defined by the Strategy, namely Trade, Transport and Communication, Tourism,
Agriculture, Poverty Alleviation, and Finance.
The COMCEC Outlooks are prepared in each cooperation area of the Strategy with a view to
exploring the global trends and current situation in the OIC Member Countries in the respective
area and enriching the discussions during the Working Groups Meetings by providing up-to-
date data.
The COMCEC Trade Outlook has been prepared by Ms. Vildan BARAN and Mr. Mustafa Adil
SAYAR, experts at the COMCEC Coordination Office and its 2019 version has been updated by
Mr. Ercan SAKA, Consultant of the COMCEC Coordination Office and Mr. Mustafa Adil SAYAR
expert from the COMCEC Coordination Office with the objective of providing an overview of
international trade of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States. It
focuses on trends and characteristics of intra-OIC trade and attempts to identify the major
common obstacles hindering trade.
Views and opinions expressed in the report are solely those of the author and do not represent
the official views of the COMCEC Coordination Office or the Member States of the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this
publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the
COMCEC/CCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its
authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its political regime or frontiers or boundaries.
Designations such as “developed,” “industrialized” and “developing” are intended for statistical
convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the state reached by a particular
country or area in the development process.
Excerpts from the report can be made as long as references are provided. All intellectual and
industrial property rights for the report belong to the COMCEC Coordination Office. This report
is for individual use and it shall not be used for commercial purposes. Except for purposes of
individual use, this outlook shall not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including printing, photocopying, CD recording, or by any physical or electronic
reproduction system, or translated and provided to the access of any subscriber through
electronic means for commercial purposes without the permission of the COMCEC Coordination
Office.